Journey to Sailand
by Uniko-Starre
Summary: Four years after Cooro and his friends begin to live with Harden, times begin to change. Astaria is no longer ANIMA friendly, and Sailand begins to change it's politics for the better. But can the four make it to Sailand without being caught and forced into slavery when the Astarian government seems to want them the most? And now that they're older, will the journey be the same?


"Boys! Dinner is ready!" Nana called out the door. She retreated back into the little house, and continued pouring drinks for everyone—water for her, Husky, Cooro and Senri, and wine for Harden and Margaret.

"Thank you so much for helping out with dinner, Nana," said Margaret as she carefully placed her old plates on the table, "I really do feel bad about making you do more work just after you get back from your job."

"It's no problem, really!" said Nana, "You give us shelter and food, and your husband gives Cooro, Senri and Husky steady work. Helping out with dinner is the least I can do."

Margaret sighed. "Oh, Nana… you four have grown so much. It seems like just yesterday you were only half my height, but look at you now! You're just as tall as me, and your cooking is almost as good—_almost_," she laughed, "And Husky and Cooro… their voices have been changing recently, haven't you noticed? Oh, this must be what it feels like to have your own children grow up."

Nana felt a pang of guilt. Margaret thought of the four of them as her own children—that she had always made clear. Still, Nana never thought of Margaret as a mother. Sure, she was nice enough, but nobody could really replace Nana's real mother.

Again, a pang of guilt. As much as Nana tried to forget about her awful old house, she just couldn't. After all, she hadn't _killed_ that awful man she'd called father—she'd only stunned him, and left her poor mother at home to deal with him, a crazed drunk no doubt enraged that his daughter had just stabbed him and ran away. It was doubtful that, even after what happened, Nana's mother would have run—she loved that man, enough to stay even if he beat his family every night and tried to kill their daughter. It was an abusive, manipulative kind of love, likely made of fear rather than affection, but it was love nonetheless.

"Speaking of Husky and Cooro… is that them now?" Nana asked cheerfully, quickly trying to forget about her old home again.

Sure enough, in a matter of seconds Cooro and Husky both walked into the kitchen. Though they were both a lot taller than they had been when they first came to Hayden and Margaret's home, they were both still very light and barely made a sound when they walked.

On the other hand, Harden and Senri, both heavy with muscle gained by men who worked their physically demanding jobs, seemed to stomp into the kitchen, their steps were so heavy.

"Hello, honey," said Margaret as she gently kissed her husband on the cheek, "how is the irrigation ditch coming?"

"It's going great, thanks to Senri here," Harden said in his gruff voice that may have been intimidating had he not been grinning like a child, "I don't know what I'd do without these kids."

Senri, despite looking a bit embarrassed at the flattery, smiled back.

Cooro sat down first. "This smells really good, Mrs. Margaret! Thank you for the food!" he said as he began to dig his fork into the roasted bird that lay before him.

"Hold it right there, you!" said Nana before Cooro's fork could make it all the way to his mouth, "We've been here for four years! You know we wait until everybody's at the table, say our prayers, _then_ we eat."

"Oh, right. I forgot," Cooro laughed. Nana couldn't help but giggle a bit too—when Cooro wasn't looking of course. She couldn't let him know how amusing she though his unwavering naïveté was; that would only encourage it.

Margaret didn't hide it, though. With a hardy laugh, she sat down herself, along with everybody else. "Oh, Cooro, some things never change."

It had been a long day, so after dinner it was off to bed—not a cushion on the floor with cheap, flimsy blankets, but an actual bed. Harden and Margaret had been sure to get the four real, fine beds when they realized they'd be staying for an extended amount of time. But tonight, the beds that were usually warm and comforting did not console Nana.

"Guys, does this ever feel… _wrong_ to you?" Nana asked as the boys settled into their own beds.

"What do you mean, wrong?" asked Husky.

"I mean, do you ever just feel trapped, like…. Like we don't belong here or something?"

"Not really. We have warm food, beds and work as long we stay here. I like it," said Cooro.

"Yeah, what brought this on? I though you of all people liked it here the most, Nana," said Husky.

"I do like it here! It's just… sometimes I feel like we shouldn't be here… like there's something more out there for us. I mean, if we really _were_ completely fulfilled, wouldn't we have lost our +ANIMA by now? Except you, Senri."

"Hm… maybe it's because, to some extent, our +ANIMA allow us to live here? Like, if I couldn't transform to swim it'd be awfully hard to catch fish, and delivering Harden's tools would be a lot more difficult for Cooro if he couldn't just fly everywhere. As for you, Nana… maybe you'll need yours in the future? I'm not sure, but either way, I'm happy here."

"Oh… okay," Nana sighed. She was sure she couldn't be the only who felt that way, but apparently she was. Even after everyone had said their goodnights and blew out the candles that lit the room, Nana couldn't sleep. She looked outside, into the starry sky that had once been their roof every night. The other three were right—at Harden's home, they had everything they could possibly need to grow up and become adults. Even if the old couple died, they could still do well—Senri had learned to forge tools over time, and Husky could still gather fish to sell at the market like he always did, and since Nana's job was in the city she was no longer depending on them for income. Theoretically, the four could live the rest of their lives in that little home without a hitch.

So why did she feel so empty?

"Wake up! Wake up!" Margaret's frantic voice tore everyone from their sleep as the room filled with the light of the candle she was carrying.

"What's going on?" slurred Cooro, still half asleep.

"You four need to get out of here," Margaret said, "I just received word from a friend of mine in the city that there was just a new law put into place—the new head of research facility eight in Astar wants to _force_ +ANIMA to work for the government, and they're taking all known +ANIMA living in the area by force!"

"Facility eight? Wasn't that—"

"Yes, yes, that's the facility that Fly Greena Aight headed, but it's the new head of the facility that instituted this law. I was told that somebody told the government that there's +ANIMA heading here, and they're coming—"

A cold knock sounded from the door, ringing through the house like the cold tolls of a bell.

Margaret gulped. "—Now."

As everyone rapidly dressed and grabbed the necessities—pouches, money, precious items—Harden's voice rang out from the door. "+ANIMA? Here? I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Wait! Where's Nana?" Cooro said.

Sure enough, Nana was not to be seen—her bed was neat and made, like it always was in the mornings, and all her things were gone, even the modest closet full of clothing she'd collected.

With a look of horror, Husky examined her bed and peeled a note off the pillow. "I thought it seemed quiet," he practically whispered in shock.

"She probably just went out on a walk, or something! I'll go out and make sure she's okay after; the three of you have to go!" Margaret said in a panicked whisper. The heavy footsteps of the aggressive strangers could be heard in the hall now, along with Harden's uncharacteristically loud yell.

"What are you doing? Did you not hear me say, there are no +ANIMA in my house!"

Cooro nodded, and opened the window to escape, Senri following him. Husky was still in shock of it all, clutching the note he'd taken from Nana's pillow, but not reading it.

The doorknob rattled. The door that always jammed to everybody's inconvenience was finally coming in use.

"Husky, go!" Margaret ushered Husky toward the window.

Husky nodded as well, and took off after Senri and Cooro. From there, Cooro flew off into the night sky. Senri and Husky ran, as fast as they could—although Husky was not physically fit enough to match Senri in stamina, he could be quick on his feet if the need arose, and adrenaline could give him stamina to do what he needed.

When the three were deep into a forest, where there were no lights or houses, they finally stopped. Husky practically collapsed from exhaustion, but managed to muster up the energy to fish a match out of his pouch, hands shaking.

"Husky… you look tired, and pale. We should wait until morning to read that letter," Cooro said as he landed, worried.

Husky paid him no heed. Despite what Margaret had said, Nana's stuff was all gone. He had to know what happened to her.

Paying Cooro no heed, Husky lit the match and read the note aloud:

_Senri. Cooro, Husky:_

_ I know you all care for me. I care for you all, too, very much. But, I just can't be truly happy here. Something is missing—but I don't know what. So, I'm leaving for now. I couldn't bear to ask you all to come with me, since you were all so happy with Hayden. Maybe someday I'll come visit you again, but not until I find out whom I'm supposed to be. With any luck, next time we meet I won't be a +ANIMA—and maybe you won't, either. I will miss you all very dearly._

_ -Nana_

"It's… our fault. She left without telling us because we were telling her how happy we were," Cooro muttered, looking guilty. "You guys did something like that to me a while ago, didn't you? At that apple lady's house…"

"I should have seen the signs," Husky muttered in disbelief, anger purging his voice, "All those questions she was asking us about fulfillment and happiness… I should have known."

And with that, the match fizzled out, and Husky passed out cold on the ground, exhausted.


End file.
